Staff and Faculty

Page Tompkins, EdD

I have a learning disability called dysgraphia. For many years early in my education I thought I was the dumb kid in the class. I was in the “special" reading groups, and I was given the alternative assignments that asked me to do less. Lucky for me, a handful of exceptional teachers came along who helped me separate my challenges from my intellect (thank you Mrs. Simms, Mr. Nelson and Mr. Ferris!). I came to see myself as a scholar and an intellectual who happened to have some particular obstacles. They even helped me to see the work I did to overcome these obstacles as contributing to special skills and strengths that other students might not have. Because of them, my education pathway, and my life, changed dramatically. They are why I went into education, and they are who I’m thinking about when I’m working with teachers and school leaders. I am always thinking that this educator may be the one who changes a young person’s life, and asking myself what I can do to help. That is what fuels my passion for education.

Page is a former high school principal and social science teacher, with a background in project based learning and the Coalition of Essential Schools approach to school design. Prior to coming to UVEI, Page was the founding director of the Reach Institute for School Leadership in Oakland, California, and he was an instructor in the Principal Leadership Institute masters program and the Leadership for Educational Equity doctorate program at UC Berkeley. He has served as a member of the California State Superintendent's Educator Excellence Task Force for the California Department of Education, was Co-Chair of the Teacher Preparation Advisory Panel for the California Commission on Teacher Credentials, and was a member of the Carnegie Knowledge Network at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Page earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California Berkeley; and a Master of Arts in Education, with a concentration in youth development and community based education, from San Francisco State University. Page holds educator licenses in Social Science (K-12) and Administration.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
You can follow him on Twitter @pagetompkins

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE INTERESTS

Page’s research and practice interests include how teachers learn, instructional coaching, teacher leadership, teacher professional community, effective teaching, instructional program coherence, and school improvement.

May 2014
New England Educational Research Organization, West Dover, VT
“We make the road by walking”: Embracing Share Accountability Through Statewide Collaboration Among Educator Preparation Programs”

April 2013
California Council for Teacher Educators San Jose, CA
“Innovations in Teacher Leadership”

April 2013
American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA
“Incentives for Good Schools: Charting the Course of Design Iterations”

November 2012
University Council for Educational Administration, Denver CO
"Extrinsic Performance Incentives and Educational Quality: A Design Development Challenge.”

October 2012
California Council for Teacher Educators, San Diego, CA
" Alternative Models for Clinical Practice”

October 2012
East Bay Charter Connect, Oakland, CA
" Teacher Skills for the 21st Century, Implications for Staffing and Credentialing”

March 2012
UC Berkeley, School of Social Work Berkeley, CA
" Social Work & Schools: Youth Development, Teachers, and the Organization of Schools”